The Ellwood family of clog dancers from Co. Durham have been involved in the dance since the lates 1900s’ Members of the family have taught scores of dancers over the years and a large number of their steps have been recorded. Indeed their family style was synonymous with North-East clog for many years. However, as other dancers have come to light and heir repertiores investigated we now know that their preferred performance style was but one of many found in Co. Durham and Northumberland in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Nonetheless their dance style and steps remain one of the repertoires most widely copied by the folk revival, and their efforts to main interest in clog dancing remain an important legacy.
Information on the following members of the family can be found by following the links below and further information, including step notations by searching against their names.
Jimmy Ellwood
Jimmy Ellwood. Born in Cumberland in 1869, his family moved to Co. Durham, probably in the mid-1870s. Jimmy became a fanatical clog dancer, who must have been well-known around the North-East, even on one occasion dancing for the Prince of Wales (later King George V).
Johnson Ellwood
Son of Jimmy Ellwood, born in Co. Durham in 1899, his style and steps became synonymous with North-East clog dancing during the second half of the twentieth century. He taught scores of dancers on Tyneside during his dancing career and encouraged dancers from the folk revival to perform his steps.
Tom Ellwood
The least known of the Ellwood family of dancers. The youngest child of Jimmy Ellwood, born in Co. Durham in 1910. He is known to have been a dancer and indeed appears to have entered the Northhumberland and Durham Championships in 1935 although he was probably knocked out in the first round.
Mary Jamieson
Johnson Ellwood's daughter, who after his death became the main source of the family's dance style and steps. She won the Four Northern Counties Championships in 1953-1955.